Main menu

Will Power was on the top spot of the speed chart in Alabama on Friday with Team Penske teammate and last week's race winner Helio Castroneves second. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Will Power outruns field, rain in IndyCar Series practice at Barber Motorsports Park

March 29, 2012

Share

Facebook

Tweet

Pinterest

Email

An afternoon thunderstorm and persistent rain spoiled the second practice session, leaving Izod IndyCar Series competitors unsure what mark will be necessary to win Saturday's pole for the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama.

Friday's speed standard at Barber Motorsports Park was 1 minute, 11.2886 seconds. It's misleading as only one session was held.

For now, Will Power occupies the top spot on the speed chart with Team Penske teammate and last week's race winner Helio Castroneves second at 1:11.50. Takuma Sato of Rahal Letterman Lanigan was third at 1:11.56.

The rest of the top five includes a pair of surprises: Rookie Josef Newgarden of Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (1:11.58) and newcomer Rubens Barrichello of KV Racing Technology (1:11.60).

Barrichello's time shouldn't be a surprise given his road course experience over 19 Formula One seasons, but he has been lobbying new IndyCar race director Beaux Barfield to re-classify him as a rookie so he can have the 30 minutes of practice afforded to such drivers. Included in that extra time are drivers not in the top 10, so Barrichello got the 30 minutes.

IndyCar's rookies, by Barfield's standards, are Newgarden, former ALMS champion Simon Pagenaud of Schmidt Hamilton Racing and former Champ Car World Series driver Katherine Legge of Dragon Racing.

Two drivers had issues in Friday's accident-free day. Justin Wilson's Dale Coyne Racing car had a fuel-line leak that caused a brief fire on pit road. Honda officials seemed confident the engine will not be replaced, but that decision had not been finalized as of Friday evening.